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Social care needs to be 'part-funded' by govt

The government needs to chip into the funds dedicated to elderly care, it has been asserted.

A spokesman for Age Concern and Help the Aged explained that the cost of social and home care is a great worry of the charities, though luckily it is being considered by the government in an upcoming green paper.

He explained: "There will have to be some sort of system of people partly paying for their own care and the cost being partly funded by the government and that needs to be outlined [in the] green paper."

The representative also noted how while care homes can vary in quality, there is a large number of homes across the country which are excellent at what they do, even if it is not the only solution to caring for the elderly, such as those with dementia or Alzheimer's disease.

According to Community Care Statistics for 2007-08 released at the end of last month, there was an estimated 1.22 million people aged 65 or over receiving a package of care following an assessment.